The present invention relates to an improved method, system, apparatus and storage medium for supplying music-containing contents via a communication network, which are suitable for use in, for example, selling music contents on line via a communication network. The present invention also relates to a method, apparatus and storage medium for making sample contents from non-sample regular contents.
Among typical examples of music software on sale today are CD (Compact Disk) media where all performance sounds of a music piece, including musical instruments"" performance tones and singing voice, are recorded in digitally encoded form using the well-known PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) scheme. Also on the market today are media which have recorded thereon music piece data in the form of digital performance information based on the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) standard (MIDI music collection). To purchase a desired music software media, it has been conventional for any interested user to take the trouble to go to a store or shop selling the desired music software. In such a case, the user can not freely test-listen to the media itself to ascertain what the recorded music piece is like; at the best, the user is allowed to just listen to a sample media of a limited music piece previously provided for test-listening purposes in the store or shop.
In the field of the so-called xe2x80x9ccommunication karaokexe2x80x9d, it has been customary to transmit or distribute karaoke software, in the form of MIDI performance information, to a requesting terminal via a communication network. However, to date, there has been no system or technique which allows a private user to freely access the communication network in order to purchase desired music piece data and thereby allows the user to test-listen to a desired music piece prior to purchase or other form of acquisition of the desired music piece. Besides, the network-based distribution has heretofore been limited to karaoke music pieces. With the recent widespread use of the Internet, new systems have been brought into partial operation, by which music piece data in the form of MIDI information are distributed, in response to a request given by a client (or client station), from a server by way of the Internet. For example, Internet broadcasting stations have come on the scene as a new form of program suppliers that differ from the traditional mass media facilities such as radio and television broadcasting stations. These Internet broadcasting stations are intended to distribute music programs via a communication network in response to a request from an interested user or audience. More specifically, in response to a user""s request, given via a user terminal (client station) such as a personal computer (PC), each of the Internet broadcasting stations connects to a WWW (World-Wide Web) server by way of a communication network such as the Internet and receives a program made up of music piece data and/or video (picture) data, to thereby allow the client station to reproduce the requested program based on the received data.
Of a great number of music software being presently marketed, there may be some which can be supplied to every interested person on a free-of-charge basis. But, because the music piece data in the form of MIDI performance information generally have economic values by themselves, it is not desirable to allow every interested person to unlimitedly download the music piece data via an Internet broadcasting station of the above-mentioned type. For this reason, a new form of music-software- or contents-selling system has been proposed which sells desired software or contents using an Internet broadcasting station or similar system to distribute, to the client station, music piece data in the form of MIDI performance information in response to a purchase request from the client station. However, the proposed contents-selling system using a communication network has various problems, for example, as to how to permit test-listening by a user and how to cope with unauthorized copying of the contents after sale, and no sufficient countermeasures or solutions to these problems have ever been provided. For instance, if the test-listening facility is not sufficient, then there would arise the problem that users are not effectively motivated to purchase contents because details of the contents remain unknown without sufficient test-listening or users tend to suffer unexpected inconveniences if they purchase the contents without knowing details thereof. Another problem is how to give assurances or protection to contents purchased by a user downloading the contents; that is, it is necessary to devise a good way to provide after-sale assurances, such as maintenance services, to the user. Further, there is a need for arrangements to readily protect the copyright holder and the like from a flood of unauthorized copying. Thus, these problems remaining to be solved are preventing an increase in the number of people who are willing to supply this type of novel contents selling system with contents for sale (for-sale contents or non-sample regular contents) as well as in the number of users willing to purchase the contents using the system, and thus the problems result in one of significant factors preventing a proliferation of the contents selling system that should be an easy-to-handle system by nature.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel technique which is suitably applicable to a system for supplying music-containing contents via a communication network and which can greatly promote use of the system while providing for conveniences and protection of both of content suppliers and users (purchasers). For example, the novel technique of the present invention can be suitably used to construct a method or system which can greatly improve the construction of contents to be sold and thereby effectively arouse users"" desire to purchase the contents and which are yet easy to use. The novel technique of the present invention can also be used suitably to construct a method or system which is useful in giving after-sale assurances and protection to contents sold to a user.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which can make sample contents from non-sample regular contents.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides a method of supplying music-containing contents via a communication network, which comprises the steps of: supplying non-sample regular contents including at least performance information of a music piece and sound information pertaining to the music piece; supplying sample contents including a sample of part of the non-sample regular contents; receiving, via the communication network, the sample contents for trial use by a user; and distributing, via the communication network, the non-sample regular contents to the user in response to a request for contents acquisition given by the user, and when the user acquires the non-sample regular contents, attaching unique additional information to the non-sample regular contents so that the unique additional information is supplied to the user along with the distributed non-sample regular contents.
According to the present invention, the non-sample regular contents are constructed to include not only performance information (e.g., MIDI performance information) of a music piece but also at least sound information pertaining thereto, and thus the contents can be significantly diversified. As a consequence, where the present invention is applied to an on-line music-content selling system, the present invention can effectively arouse users"" desire to purchase the contents and thereby promote use of the selling system. For example, the sound information may include various types of PCM-coded audio signals which typically represent singing voice and/or chorus voice constituting a part of the music piece, commentary voice or the like related to the music piece. The non-sample regular contents may further include video information of a musical score and other suitable picture information. Further, in the present invention, trial or sample contents including a partial sample of the non-sample regular contents are supplied separately from the non-sample regular contents and the user is allowed to receive and readily effect test-listening or the like on the received sample contents. Thus, the present invention can effectively motivate the user to acquire the contents and establish a system for the user to ascertain actual details of the desired contents, so that the contents can be easier for the user to use. Furthermore, the present invention is characterized by the arrangement that once the user finally decides on acquiring the contents, not only the contents are distributed to the user via the communication network but also unique additional information attached to the contents is supplied to the user. By determining the presence of the unique additional information, the present invention can readily guarantee the distributed contents as duly authorized contents; that is, the present invention can readily give the user after-sale assurances such as maintenance services. If a simple unauthorized copy of the contents sold to the user is found, the present invention can accurately identify the authorized purchaser (user) by determining the presence of the unique additional information attached only to the legally purchased contents, and also effectively protect the content supplier and copyright holder etc. from a flood of unauthorized copies. Further, even in the case where some contents stored in the server are stolen by an illegal hacker or the like, or where an unauthorized copy, obtained as by illegally copying purchased contents with the additional information unduly removed from the purchased contents, is found, the present invention can promptly recognize the illegality of the copy by determining that the copy does not have the unique additional information attached thereto, which can also be useful in protecting the rights of the content supplier and copyright holder etc.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making sample contents from music contents including at least a file of digital performance information for automatically performing a music piece and a file of sound information contained in the music piece, which is characterized by the steps of: a first step of analyzing the digital performance information for a performance pattern present therein and dividing the digital performance information into a plurality of segments in accordance with the performance pattern; a second step of detecting an envelope in the sound information and dividing the sound information into a plurality of segments on the basis of a tendency of rising/falling variations in the detected envelope; a third step of comparing the segments of the digital performance information and the segments of the sound information, to thereby determine a given range of the music piece which is to be extracted as characterizing the music piece; and a fourth step of extracting specific parts of the digital performance information and sound information which correspond to the given range of the music piece determined by the third step and supplying the extracted specific parts as sample contents.
With the method of the invention arranged in the above-mentioned manner, it is possible to automatically determine a given range of the music piece to be extracted as characterizing the music piece, taking into account both the digital performance information of the music piece and the sound information (singing voice or chorus voice), with the result that sample contents can be made with utmost ease and efficiency.
The present invention may be constructed and implemented not only as the method invention as set out above but also as a system or apparatus invention. The present invention may also be embodied as a program for execution by a processor such as a computer or DSP, and as a storage medium storing such a program. Further, the present invention may be implemented as a method, apparatus, program or storage medium for separate application to a server on a communication network. Similarly, the present invention may be implemented as a method, apparatus, program or storage medium for separate application to a client on a communication network. Further, the processor for use in the present invention may be implemented not only by a general-purpose processor capable of executing software programs but also by a dedicated hardware processing device constructed of integrated or other electric/electronic circuitry.